Victim of deadly altercation fondly remembered

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, July 21, 2008

More than 20 years ago Milton Ray Tyson, 41, left his Farmville, N.C., home to make a better life for himself in Connecticut.

That life ended after he was hit by one punch to the face in an altercation late Saturday with a man nicknamed "Help Me Out," alleged city police.

Michael Grant, 43, of 86 Woodward Ave., Apt. 6, in Norwalk is charged with second degree assault and is being held in custody on $175,000 bond. Police have not ruled out more serious charges could be laid against Grant. He makes his next court appearance on Aug. 5 in Stamford.

Grant was known as "Help Me Out," said a city resident who knew both men, for his requests of cash to "help me out." The resident declined to be identified.

Grant had appeared in court on Friday, July 18, on an unrelated assault charge and did have a criminal history, the court was told during his appearance Monday in Norwalk court.

Tyson was the "baby of the family," said his mother Nora Jean Tyson in a telephone interview Tuesday from her Farmville home.

He didn't see a future picking tobacco and delivering furniture in Farmville, N.C., said his mother, who goes by her middle name Jean.

"He said he wanted to go up north and make some real money," she said about a son who avoided fights while growing up in a town about an hour's drive east of Raleigh, N.C.

"He never got into any trouble. He wasn't a violent boy, he was a good boy," said his mother who said Milton was the baby of her four children.

He rarely returned to North Carolina, but telephoned her on a weekly basis. She works as a house cleaner and also works Sunday mornings at the United Methodist Church in Farmville.

Tyson has a daughter who Jean saw once but the couple had split and Tyson hadn't seen his daughter in years. The last Jean knew the girl and her mother were in California.

When she pressed Milton that he should try and resume contact, he complained he found it hard to keep up with them because they always moved. But his mother said it was a subject he rarely liked to talk about.

Although he didn't talk about his daughter he was voluble on other subjects, said his aunt Diane Gay, who lives in Bridgeport.

"He was a talking person, he loved to talk to people," said Gay Tuesday. Although he could be loud he was never confrontational and "didn't battle anyone," said Gay.

He worked different jobs, laying carpet or working as a carpenter, said Gay. He was in Norwalk spending time with his girlfriend of many years, Hattie, said Gay. She didn't know her last name.

Shortly after 11 p.m. an argument erupted between Tyson and Grant, said police. Shortly after Grant, got on his bicycle and circled the roadway before coming back to confront Tyson who was standing in front of the Alexa Grocery store on South Main Street, said a witness who didn't want to be identified.

It was at that point that Grant allegedly struck Tyson with one punch sending him backwards on the street where he struck his head on the pavement.

Police arrived at the scene to discover Tyson lying on his back with blood coming out of his mouth and Grant across the street on his bicycle. A bystander identified Grant and Grant came forward when directed by police and told police to arrest him, said police.

It was around 1 a.m. when a family member telephoned Jean Tyson to tell her that Milton was in the hospital.

Later that day she was told he was brain dead and she agreed her son should be taken off life support. He was pronounced dead at 4 p.m.